New DelhiChief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the two leaders discussed obtaining situation in the State particularly the plight of residents of border villages who have been suffering due to continued cross LoC shelling in the State, an official spokesman said in a statement issued here.
The Chief Minister sought immediate construction of more individual and community bunkers besides other relief measures for the victims of border firing in the State, the spokesman said.
Mehbooba also discussed with Rajnath the implementation of Agenda of Alliance in the State and the necessary steps to be taken for its expeditious execution.
The AoA was cobbled by the late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the PDP patron-founder who was sworn in a Chief Minister of The state on March 1, 2015, and he had described the coalition of PDP-BJP as the coming together of the North Pole and South Pole.
As per text of the agreement between PDP and BJP, the purpose of the Alliance was: The PDP and the BJP have entered into a Governance Alliance based on an agreement and agenda which is an effort towards seeking a national reconciliation on J&K.
The purpose of this alliance is to form a coalition Government that will be empowered to catalyse reconciliation and confidence building within and across the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K thereby ensuring peace in the state. This will, in turn, create an enabling environment for all round economic development of the state and prosperity of the people.
The raison detre of this alliance is to provide a stable and a representative government in J&K which respects the mandate given by the people, Strengthens the institutions and widens the ambit of democracy through inclusive politics provides smart governance brings about self-sustaining and balanced development across all three regions of the state creates conditions to facilitate resolution of all issues of J&K
In a situation where socio-political aspirations and grievances of the people have wide ranging differences, economic development on its own can neither bring about peace nor prosperity
Nor can a political process get us where we want to be if it is, unaccompanied by tangible material, economic and financial initiatives resulting in sustainable economic development.
As such, sequencing the two and striking the right balance between them will create a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity that will accord a normal life to the coming generations, especially those regions who have lived in perpetual strife and conflict.
While recognising the different positions and appreciating the perceptions BJP and PDP have on the constitutional status of J&K considering the political and legislative realities, the present position will be maintained on all the constitutional provisions pertaining to J&K including the special status in the Constitution of India.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister also met the Indian Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley here on Tuesday evening.
During the meeting, the two leaders discussed in detail the economic issues confronting the State besides the implementation of Rs. One Lakh Crore Prime Ministers Development Package (PMDP).
Mehbooba Mufti sought timely and expeditious release of funds and reimbursement claims under the package. She also made a case for making special funds available to the State Government to meet the liabilities of left out affected persons of 2014 floods.
The Chief Minister made a demand for swapping high interest loans with soft interest loans to reduce the repaying burden on the State Government. She also pitched for taking care of various liabilities on account of power bills through State bonds of Rs. 3500 crore.
Mehbooba Mufti apprised the Union Finance Ministers about the difficulties being faced by the local traders on account of losses during the unrest of 2016. She sought all help to them to get out this situation including interest subvention and re structuring of their loans. It may be recalled here that the members of the business community back home had made the request with the Chief Minister for the same a number of times and the Chief Minister had assured them to take it up with the Centre.
The Union Finance Minister assured the Chief Minister that the Centre would take all necessary steps to address the issues raised by the Chief Minister.
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